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Reel 6: March 24, 1954/Transcript
This is the official transcript for the episode which can also be accessed for free at'' patreon.com/withinthewires'' Amy, I'm drunk. I found the wine you I got you for your last birthday. Or I guess it was the wine I told you to buy yourself as a gift. I'm sorry Amy, I took a bottle. Two bottles. Amy, I took four bottles. They're fucking delicious. I'm drunk. I already said that. # # # When you find this tape tomorrow. Make sure I'm still here in my office. Then go home. Stay away. Lock your doors. Not trying to be scary here. There's two people outside our office. When I first saw them, I noticed that they were wearing suits and smoking. They had a dog with them. It was that same hideous dog I saw a few weeks ago. I don't know the breed, but I know that dog. The people didn't talk or move. Just stood and smoked. I watched them for a few minutes. Their cigarettes burned forever. Do you smoke? Vivienne smokes. I hate it. I love her, and I don't want to tell her it makes her smell bad. Doctor Wood told her smoking is in violation of her repopulation contract during the course of pregnancy, so she’s stopped. Mostly. Vivi doesn't work with flowers much any more. I used to keep lilacs in a vase in our kitchen, but she seemed to stop noticing the smell. I think I need to learn to give better gifts. You bring someone flowers every week, it becomes sort of rote. She expects them. I think years of smoking kept her from smelling them anymore. These days she's into art. Paintings and music and dance. They’re nice. I miss the smell of the lilacs. What I'm trying to say is I'm drunk and. Um. Flowers. # # # The dog. Those two people in suits and their dog. Right. I watched them smoke and stand and do nothing else. But then one of them turned their head up and looked right at me, and the other carried on smoking and standing. The one just looked right into my eyes from 50 feet away. Even through their sunglasses, I could feel us lock eyes for what felt like a full minute. Then the other one turned their head and looked right at me. I closed the blinds and sat down. I... Amy, it was horrifying. I thought of that person with the hat from a few weeks ago. I don't know if that's one of these two people or if there are an army of them. I was afraid to leave. Am still afraid to leave. I peeked through the blinds again, and they were still there smoking and standing, doing nothing. Looking at nothing. And then they both turned their heads, first one then the other, same order as before, and looked right at me. I only had a small crack in the blinds. I jumped back. I haven't gotten anything done. I found your wine in the storage closet. Why didn't you take the wine home? Do you not like wine? I'm bad at gifts. Amy. Amy, I trust your judgment. If you ever want to say "Michael, that's a bad gift. Don't send that to whoever. blah blah." then just tell me. I want to give the best gifts. Maybe you don't drink. Ugh, I would feel terrible if you were trying to stop drinking and I bought you gallons of alcohol. I don't know you that well, do I? You write all these letters inviting important people to dinners and parties, over to my house, and I've never had you over for dinner. Amy. Amy, I promise that will change. I'm a changed man. I owe you better. Do you drink? Vivi and I like wine, but maybe you don't. We'll have water. Brew some tea. Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend? Are you married? No, you don't have a wedding ring. I mean, maybe you don't wear wedding rings. I'm sorry. I'm just making stuff up about you now. This is a 1940 Cabernet Sauvignon. Was that a good year for wine? I like the stuff, but I don't know shit about it. pause; sound of some rustling with the blinds; an exasperated curse Amy, I just looked again, and the people in suits are still there with their fucking dog. They did the same thing. Not looking at anything just smoking and standing, and 30 seconds after I peeked through the slit, they both turned their heads, one then the other, and stared right at me. When you hear this tape tomorrow Amy, if I'm not here, I want you to go home. I want you to call my home and see if I'm there. If I'm not, just tell Vivienne I must have stepped out for a bit. Don't alarm her. She's alarmed these days. If I’m not home call Vishwathi. No, the police. No. Don’t call anyone. I'm being followed Amy. I don't know if you believe me or not. I'm interpreting a coldness sometimes in you when I tell you this stuff. It's a lot. I know. I sound paranoid. But I can feel people behind me on the street. Vivi and I have seen men in suits and hats, often with unpleasant dogs, standing in corners of markets not buying anything, or seated in corners of restaurants not ordering anything, or riding buses without ever getting off. Last night, we came home from a gallery opening, and our front door was unlocked. We had felt such relief all night, both noting that we didn't see any of those suits watching us. But it was because they had been in our house. Maybe still were. We grabbed knives from the kitchen and paced around the house, but nothing seemed disturbed. No artwork or cash were taken. Nothing was broken. A moment of relief until we realized that our Constance was gone. Vivi realized it first when she saw that the cat bed was empty. Connie was always in her bed or by the food dish when we got home. No Connie. We looked under the bed, sofa, on top of the book shelves. Everywhere. They took our cat. Amy. I cried. Vivi called our neighbors, but they didn't answer their phones, even though we could see their lights were on. At around 11, we were still awake, scared to sleep, when we heard someone outside the front door. I snuck over to the window to peek out, but no one was there. I heard the door rustle again. Almost like a knife scraping against it. But I couldn't see anyone. Then I looked down and saw Connie, clawing at the front door. I pulled the door open and she ran inside, darting past me straight to her cat bed. I called to Vivi and we went to go hug our little baby returned home safely. She must have gotten out when our house was invaded. But. When we looked closer. There was blood on the cat bed. Her entire left ear was missing. Vivi said "Connie, you got in a fight. Some mean animal took your ear clean off." We patched her up as best we could, tried to stop the bleeding, made an appoitment with the vet. But. The thing is. Where the ear had come off was a perfectly straight line. Unless that other cat or raccoon or whatever was carrying a pair of scissors, then… Someone mutilated our cat and put her back on our patio. Right at bedtime. To keep us awake. Terrified. I haven’t mentioned this to Vivi. I went straight to my home office. I keep a few documents there. Copies of letters and a few work related files. (Please don't tell Vishwathi I've been keeping classified documents at home.) I didn't know why I didn't think of this first. But I knew it had to be Karen Roberts, or someone working for her. She knows where I live. But the thing is Amy, nothing was missing. Maybe they took photos of the stuff, but it didn't look disturbed at all. I checked my personal documents: ID cards and medical records. And # # # Do you remember the name Leena Mäkinen? I had to spell it for you. With the umlaut over the a? She worked for. You know what better I don't spell it out any more than I already have on other recordings. The way you've looked at me recently. I'm sure my paranoia makes you uncomfortable, and it would be totally understandable if you were keeping journals of our interactions. So whatever I've already told you, there's nothing I can do about that, but I need to stop incriminating myself on tape. I mean I'm not incriminating myself. I've done nothing wrong here. Nothing bad anyway. But if a tribunal wanted to subvert the narrative with what I've -you've written, then I'm in trouble. we're all in trouble. But this is how the sausage gets made. You want to make a career in public service, you have to grind those organs and push it into intestines. It's disgusting, but in the end, it's just sausage, and people love it. # # # There’s something in here with me. There’s something flying around in here. Some kind of bug. I don’t recognise it. It’s kind of… ...blue? Maybe more green? It looks like carved jade set atop a bronze staff. But with wings. Long, thin wings. Long thin body, long thin wings. Do you know what it is? It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful but it keeps dive-bombing my face. # # # Karen’s controlling me. She knows I’ve been working to stop her. The worst enemy is the one you cannot see, cannot fight. The flipside is you get your home invaded by some goon in Chicago sent by some maniac in Oslo into your home to physically torture your cat and psychologically torture you and your wife and then to leave a little message. Nothing written or recorded, but a clear message nonetheless. Where was I… Inside our personal files, documents for only me and Vivi, there was a copy of Leena Mäkinen's European ID card, cut in half, probably by the same scissors that took apart my cat's ear. I waited until about 3 am my time and then called the Oslo office, doing my best English accent (I don't know how to do a Finnish one) and asking to speak to Leena. The secretary asked "Who may I say is calling?" I made up a quick name. Stephanie Connor or something like that. And the secretary said "Leena cannot come to the phone right now." I asked if Leena was in the office today. And the secretary said "I'm sorry. What is your name again. I can make a record you called." I said my name again: "Stephanie Connor". Or I thought I did. I was panicking a bit. "Stephanie Connor?" she asked. "Yes," I said. "Stephanie Connor." "Oh, see I thought you said Connolly the first time. It's Connor, not Connolly? Are you sure you have that name correct? I want to make sure I have your name exactly right." And I hung up. So yeah, when you hear this tape tomorrow, and I'm not here, call my home. Don't alarm Vivi if I'm not there either. Just hang up calmly and call Vishwathi Ramadoss. I called her today and asked her to come ASAP to Chicago. She didn't sound alarmed at all, totally calm, and unsurprised. It was exactly what I wanted to hear, someone who can take charge, who knows what to do, or at least can pretend she knows what to do. Secretary Ramadoss should arrive this coming week. # # # rustle of noise away from the mic; an frightened gasp Amy. Amy, I just peeked out the blinds again. Those two men who've been scaring me all evening by standing across the street smoking and watching me? They're gone. They're not there anymore. sobbing Where the fuck did they go? Fuck! Where the fuck? She’s wants to take me down first, Amy. She’s moving in Washington, undermining everything I’m doing. She’s found Leena. And she’s coming for Vivi, too. It can’t end like. Oh god. Not like… # # # If I'm gone when you get this, call Vishwathi immediately and tell her what I've told you. Amy, I have to be able to trust you. I don't know if I can. That's not your doing. It's mine. I should have spent more time with you. You're a good employee. You've always done your job to perfection. You deserve a huge raise. And more, you deserve my attention, not just as a boss but as a friend. I should have spent more time with you. # # # What was that? Amy. I... I'm hearing things. I'm really drunk though. bottle is uncorked So at least I have that. thumping sound in the background It's nothing. 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